Lenka Koen

This is my paternal grandmother's sister, Lenka Koen (nee Kalef). The photo was taken in the S. Mojsilovic studio in Belgrade in 1898. My grandmother had four siblings. Lenka was the oldest, then Avram, then a brother that died, then Jakov and then my grandmother Matilda. They all lived in Belgrade, very close to one another. Lenka was married to Josip Koen and they had four children: Isak, Marko, Maci and Elica. They were all killed during the war. Her husband was taken away with Jakov Kalef and killed among the first of the adult Jews killed in Belgrade. Elica was transported from Belgrade with her new born baby. Since she knew she was going to die she threw her baby, Avram, out the train window, with the hope that someone would rescue the baby. I learned this story from my mother and she heard it from a survivor whose name my mother never told me.